The Old Fishermen Are Going

Fred Bilyou, one of the last of the Hudson rivermen, died the other day. Tucker Crawford died not long ago. How many more can there be? Not many, thanks to General Electric.

It’s been years since I’ve been out to the North Fork of Long Island, which is where Long Island Sound’s and Peconic Bay’s last traditional commercial fishermen were working, using pound nets. I had assumed they were long gone too but I was talking the other day to someone who has a house out there and a sailboat, and he told me some of the pound nets are still there. I’m not sure why I consider that good news, but I do.